Secret societies in Singapore have been largely eradicated as a security issue in the city-state.[1][2] However many smaller groups remain today which attempt to mimic societies of the past. The membership of these societies is largely adolescent.

Despite fading from contemporary Singaporean society, these secret societies hold great relevance to Singapore's modern history. The founding of the city-state in 1819 saw the arrival of thousands of Chinese, thereby transplanting to Singapore social systems already present in China itself. Although the secret societies were commonly associated with violence, extortion and vice, they also played a part in building a social fabric for early Chinese migrants in Singapore. They were given leeway to control the Chinese populace due to the hands-off policy adopted by the British colonials, who hoped to create stability.

The secret societies formed in Singapore can be traced to mid-18th century Fujian province in China, with the local offshoots adopting an organisational structure mirroring the parent organisation. The Hongmen, the first secret society to be established in Singapore, traced its origins to the Tiandihui in Fujian.[3]

Despite their founding principles of mutual assistance and bonding, secret societies have, over time, come to conjure up impressions of violence and disorder. This association, perhaps exaggerated, has been encouraged by law enforcement officers since their formation in the colonial era. This perception was strengthened by several factors, including the inability of the colony's administration to control their activities, the branding of arrested society members as "criminal gangsters" by the media and an upsurge in violent crime in the 1960s sparked by a few society members. These factors came together during the same period in which the country was trying to gain a foothold fresh from having attained political independence it did not foresee.

Several important riots in Malayan history had prompted the colonial government to respond umambiguously. These riots include the Penang Riots of 1867 (which involved the Ghee Hin) and the Post Office Riots of 1876. The Societies Ordinance of 1889 was introduced as an attempt at suppression.

In the early 19th century, secret societies posed a significant threat to law and order in Singapore. The early Chinese immigrants' clandestine activities and occasional turf wars proved too much of a problem for the British authorities. The British authorities were therefore obliged to curb the growing problem. They employed a number of methods, both on purpose and not, to check the growth of secret societies. This resulted in the decline of secret societies.

The transfer of authority over Singapore from the Indian Government to the colonial office in London is considered by most to be the most important factor that helped the British authority check the growth of secret societies. Elevation of Singapore to a Crown Colony meant that London was willing to spend money and resources, and provide proper administrators that it had been unprepared to do. Thus, Singapore was given a significantly larger priority and only with the transfer of power, could the authorities initiate the following changes.

The legislation of strict laws had an enormous effect in checking the growth of the secret societies. Two significant laws were passed in the 1860s.

The first was the Peace Preservation Act (also known as the banishment act) of 1867, which gave the colonial government the power to detain and deport Chinese immigrants who were convicted of crime. This was a major weapon against the secret societies members as it created fear and deterred the immigrants from joining the secret societies. With this law, the power of the secret societies was significantly curtailed.

In 1869, the Peace Preservation Act was amended, and the Dangerous Societies Suppression Ordinance was also enacted. This required that secret societies be registered. By requiring only the societies, and not the individual members, to be registered, the police attracted people to go to provide insight on the actual strength of the societies. 10 societies, 618 office bearers and 12371 members were registered in the first round of registrations. This ordinance also accorded the colonial government the power to inspect any society that was deemed dangerous to public peace. This way the colonial government could monitor the activities of the secret societies closely. This prevented the Chinese immigrants from joining the secret societies, causing it to reduce in influence in Singapore in the 19th century.

In 1843, there were only 133 police personnel. Even if the army of 595 men was brought in, they were still no match for the Chinese community consisting of 32 132 people (most of whom were secret society members). Thomas Dunman, the first Commissioner of Police, wrote that his police force was underpaid and drew salaries lower than the average coolies. By 1865, there were 385 policemen to 50 043 Chinese, but the ratio of policemen to Chinese was still too few to be effective. This was compounded by the fact that no one in the police force was qualified to deal with the Chinese. The officers' posts were held by Europeans while Indians made up the rank and file. No Chinese were employed because of their possible dealings with secret societies. Thus, the police force was ignorant of the language and ways of the Chinese, which was also the most volatile community. So ineffective was the police force that the wealthy had to hire private watchmen and carry personal arms to ensure their own safety.

However, after Singapore became a Crown Colony, large improvements made to the local police force. This was an important factor that helped check the growth of secret societies. The police force started to receive more funding, better equipment and proper training. All these made the police force a much more effective force than it had been under the East India Company. Even more significant was the hiring of Chinese police officers who could understand and deal with the problems associated with the secret societies.

The establishment of the Chinese Protectorate is yet another factor that led to the societies' growth being checked. The first Chinese Protector, William Pickering, maintained close contact with the Chinese immigrant community and provided them with assistance. Being fluent in written and spoken Mandarin as well as in other varieties of Chinese, Pickering looked after the welfare of the newly arrived coolies, prevented coolie abuse and kept track of the numbers of coolies leaving and arriving. Pickering also licensed coolie depots. To qualify for a licence, the depots required a constant and plentiful supply of water and good ventilation. He also visited the coolies to ask them in person what their connections in Singapore were, making sure they had someone to turn to during their stay.

This establishment of the Chinese Protectorate let the British sustain, for the first time in history, a satisfactory relationship with the Chinese community. Pickering was known affectionately as daren (大人), Chinese for 'Sir'. The Protectorate effectively became a legitimate alternative where migrants could come and try solve their problems, instead of putting it forward to the societies for a normally violent conclusion. It thus helped to deter many new immigrants from increasing the membership of secret societies.

1.
History of Singapore
–
The written history of Singapore dates back to the third century. Evidence suggest a significant trading settlement existed in Singapore during the 14th century, in the late 14th century, Singapura was under the rule of Parameswara until he was expelled by the Majapahit or the Siamese. It then came under the Malacca Sultanate and then the Johor Sultanate, modern Singapore was founded in 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor allowed the British to found a trading port on the island. During World War II, Singapore was conquered and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945, but social unrest and disputes between Singapores ruling Peoples Action Party and Malaysias Alliance Party resulted in Singapores expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on August 9,1965 and this was itself a transliteration from the Malay name Pulau Ujong, or island at the end. The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, referred to a settlement on the island called Temasik. The name Temasek is also given in Sejarah Melayu, which contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana, when he saw a lion, the prince took this as an auspicious sign and founded a settlement called Singapura, which means Lion City in Sanskrit. The actual origin of the name Singapura however is unclear according to scholars, in 1320, the Mongol Empire sent a trade mission to a place called Long Ya Men, which is believed to be Keppel Harbour at the southern part of the island. The Chinese traveler Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330, Ban Zu is thought to be present day Fort Canning Hill, and recent excavations in Fort Canning found evidence indicating that Singapore was an important settlement in the 14th century. Wang mentioned that that the natives of Long Ya Men and Chinese residents lived together in Long Ya Men, Singapore is one of the oldest locations where a Chinese community is known to exist outside China, and the oldest corroborated by archaeological evidence. By the 14th century, the empire of Srivijaya had already declined, according to the Malay Annals, Singapore was defeated in one Majapahit attack. The last king, Sultan Iskandar Shah ruled the island for several years, modern archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement on Fort Canning was abandoned around this time, although a small trading settlement continued in Singapore for some time afterwards. The Malacca Sultanate extended its authority over the island and Singapore became a part of the Malacca Sultanate, however, by the time Portuguese arrived in the early 16th century, Singapura had already become great ruins according to Alfonso de Albuquerque. The Portuguese seized Malacca in 1511, and the sultan escaped south and established the Johor Sultanate, the Portuguese however destroyed the settlement in Singapore in 1613, and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Malay Archipelago was gradually taken over by the European colonial powers, the early dominance of the Portuguese was challenged during the 17th century by the Dutch, who came to control most of the ports in the region. The Dutch established a monopoly over trade within the archipelago, particularly in spices, other colonial powers, including the British, were limited to a relatively minor presence. In 1818, Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of the British colony at Bencoolen, the Dutch had been stifling British trade in the region by prohibiting the British from operating in Dutch-controlled ports or by subjecting them to a high tariff. Raffles hoped to challenge the Dutch by establishing a new port along the Straits of Malacca and he needed a third port since the British only had the ports of Penang and Bencoolen

2.
Fujian
–
Fujian, formerly romanised as Foken, Fouken, Fukien, and Hokkien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, the name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jianzhou two cities in Fujian, during the Tang dynasty. While its population is chiefly of Han origin, it is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China, most of Fujian is administered by the Peoples Republic of China. However, the archipelagos of Kinmen and Matsu are under the control of the Republic of China, thus, there are two provinces, the Fujian Province administered by the PRC and the Fujian Province of the ROC. Recent archaeological discoveries demonstrate that Fujian had entered the Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC, the Tanshishan site in suburban Fuzhou spans the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Age where semi-underground circular buildings were found in the lower level. The Huangtulun site, also in suburban Fuzhou, was of the Bronze Age in character, Fujian was also the place for the kingdom of Minyue. This is because the family of Yuè fled to Fujian after their kingdom was annexed by the State of Chu in 306 BC. Mǐn is also the name of the river in this area. Minyue was a de facto kingdom until the emperor of Qin dynasty, liu Bang was victorious and founded the Han dynasty, in 202 BC, he restored Minyues status as a tributary independent kingdom. Thus, Wuzhu was allowed to construct his fortified city in Fuzhou as well as a few locations in the Wuyi Mountains and his kingdom extended beyond the borders of contemporary Fujian into eastern Guangdong, eastern Jiangxi, and southern Zhejiang. The Han emperor eventually decided to get rid of the threat by sending a military campaign against Minyue. Large forces approached Minyue simultaneously from four directions via land and sea in 111 BC, the rulers in Fuzhou surrendered to avoid a futile fight and destruction, thus the first kingdom in Fujian history came to an abrupt end. The Han dynasty collapsed at the end of the 2nd century AD, sun Quan, the founder of the Kingdom of Wu, spent nearly twenty years subduing the Shan Yue people, the branch of the Yue living in mountains. These immigrants were primarily from eight families in central China, Lin, Huang, Chen, Zheng, Zhan, Qiu, He, the first four remain as the major surnames of modern Fujian. Population density in Fujian remained low compared to the rest of China, only two commanderies and sixteen counties were established by the Western Jin dynasty. Like other southern provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties era, the Southern Dynasties reigned south of the Yangtze River, including Fujian. During Sui and Tang eras a large influx of migrants came, the Tang dynasty oversaw the next golden age of China and culturally and economically benefited Fujian greatly, Fujians capital Fuzhous economic and cultural instions grew and developed. The later years of the Tang dynasty saw a number of upheavals in the Chinese heartland

3.
Government of India
–
It is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. There is a bicameral Parliament with the Lok Sabha as a lower house, the judicial branch systematically contains an apex Supreme Court,24 high courts, and several district courts, all inferior to the Supreme Court. Similar to the government, individual state governments each consist of executive, legislative. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common, the full name of the country is the Republic of India. No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name appears on legal banknotes, in treaties. The Union Government, Central Government or Government of India are often used in an official and unofficial capacity to refer to the Government of India, because the seat of government is in New Delhi, New Delhi is commonly used as a metonym for the Central Government. Legislative branch in India is exercised by the Parliament and a legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha. The latter is considered the house or the House of the people. The Parliament does not have control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court of India. However, it does exercise some control over the executive branch, the members of the cabinet, including the prime minister and the Council of Ministers, are either chosen from parliament or elected there to within six months of assuming office. The cabinet as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can only be dissolved when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. Whereas the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house which can never be dissolved though the members of the Rajya Sabha who are elected for a six-year term, the Executive Branch of government is the one that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers. The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India, the President has all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53. The President is to act in accordance with aid and advice tendered by the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers remains in power during the pleasure of the President. However, in practice, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha, if a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha, the President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. His/Her work is to facilitate smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government, the President is de jure the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces

4.
British Overseas Territories
–
The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union, though the Cyprus SBAs are subject to EU law and use the Euro. Most of the territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence. The rest are either uninhabited or have a population of military or scientific personnel. They share the British monarch as head of state, the term British Overseas Territory was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, replacing the term British Dependent Territory, introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Prior to 1 January 1983, the territories were referred to as British Crown Colonies. With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Territories retain permanent civilian populations. Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri. Collectively, the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people, the vast majority of this,660,000 square miles, constitutes the British Antarctic Territory. The current minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas. The first, unofficial, colony was Newfoundland, where English fishermen routinely set up camps in the 16th century. It is now a province of Canada known as Newfoundland and Labrador and it retains strong cultural ties with Britain. English colonisation of North America began officially in 1607 with the settlement of Jamestown, st. Georges town, founded in Bermuda in that year, remains the oldest continuously inhabited British settlement in the New World. Bermuda and Bermudians have played important, sometimes pivotal, but generally underestimated or unacknowledged roles in the shaping of the English and British trans-Atlantic Empires. These include maritime commerce, settlement of the continent and of the West Indies, separate self-governing colonies federated to become Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Rhodesia. These and other large self-governing colonies had become known as Dominions by the 1920s, the Dominions achieved almost full independence with the Statute of Westminster. Through a process of following the Second World War, most of the British colonies in Africa, Asia

5.
Overseas Chinese
–
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Peoples Republic of China and Republic of China. People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves overseas Chinese, Overseas Chinese can be of the Han Chinese ethnic majority, or from any of the other ethnic groups in China. The Chinese language has various terms equivalent to the English Overseas Chinese which refers to Chinese citizens residing in other than China. The term haigui refers to returned overseas Chinese and guīqiáo qiáojuàn to their returning relatives, huáyì refers to ethnic Chinese residing outside of China. Literally, it means Tang people, a reference to Tang dynasty China when it was ruling China proper. It should be noted that this term is used by the Cantonese, Hoochew, Hakka and Hokkien as a colloquial reference to the Chinese people. The term shǎoshù mínzú is added to the terms for overseas Chinese to indicate those in the diaspora who would be considered ethnic minorities in China. The terms shǎoshù mínzú huáqiáo huárén, shǎoshù mínzú huáqiáo huárén, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the PRC does not distinguish between Han and ethnic minority populations for official policy purposes. For example, members of the Tibetan diaspora may travel to China on passes granted to certain overseas Chinese. Various estimates of the overseas Chinese minority population include 3.1 million,3.4 million,5.7 million, cross-border ethnic groups are not considered overseas Chinese minorities unless they left China after the establishment of an independent state on Chinas border. Some ethnic groups who have connections with China, like the Hmong or Mongolians may not associate themselves as overseas Chinese. The Chinese people have a history of migrating overseas. One of the dates back to the Ming dynasty when Zheng He became the envoy of Ming. He sent people - many of them Cantonese and Hokkien - to explore and trade in the South China Sea, when China was under the imperial rule of the Qing Dynasty, subjects who left the Qing Empire without the Administrators consent were considered to be traitors and were executed. Their family members faced consequences as well, however, the establishment of the Lanfang Republic in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, as a tributary state of Qing China, attests that it was possible to attain permission. The republic lasted until 1884, when it fell under Dutch occupation as Qing influence waned and these migrations are considered to be among the largest in Chinas history. Most of the nationalist and neutral refugees fled Mainland China to Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan, many nationalists who stayed behind were persecuted or even executed. Kuomintang members who settled in Malaysia and Singapore played a role in the establishment of the Malaysian Chinese Association

6.
East India Company
–
The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal

7.
Yakuza
–
Yakuza, also known as gokudō, are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan, the yakuza are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and organized fiefdom-nature. They have a presence in the Japanese media and operate internationally with an estimated 102,000 members. Tekiya were considered one of the lowest social groups in Edo, as they began to form organizations of their own, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities. During Shinto festivals, these peddlers opened stalls and some members were hired to act as security, each peddler paid rent in exchange for a stall assignment and protection during the fair. The Edo government eventually formally recognized such tekiya organizations and granted the oyabun of tekiya a surname as well as permission to carry a sword—the wakizashi and this was a major step forward for the traders, as formerly only samurai and noblemen were allowed to carry swords. Bakuto had a lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edge of towns, most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their own security personnel. The roots of the yakuza can still be today in initiation ceremonies. During the formation of the yakuza, they adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure of oyabun-kobun where kobun owe their allegiance to the oyabun, in a much later period, the code of jingi was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup and this ritual is not exclusive to the yakuza—it is also commonly performed in traditional Japanese Shinto weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships. However, after the war, the yakuza adapted again, prospective yakuza come from all walks of life. The most romantic tales tell how yakuza accept sons who have been abandoned or exiled by their parents, many yakuza start out in junior high school or high school as common street thugs or members of bōsōzoku gangs. Perhaps because of its lower status, numerous yakuza members come from Burakumin. Yakuza groups are headed by an oyabun or kumichō who gives orders to his subordinates, in this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Japanese senpai-kōhai model. Members of yakuza gangs cut their ties and transfer their loyalty to the gang boss. They refer to other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. The yakuza is populated almost entirely by men, and there are few women involved who are called ane-san

8.
Preman (Indonesian gangster)
–
A Abdo is a member of an Indonesian organized gang, encompassing street level criminals up through crime bosses. Premans are often perceived negatively throughout Indonesian society due to associations with violence and this root word is derived from a term which describes the confluence of state power and criminality. While associated with brigandry and theft, Indonesian crime syndicates have periodically acted as enforcers to maintain authority, the roles of the jago or jawara were particularly important during the Indonesian Revolution, as they often adopted political roles that helped consolidating the power of local authorities. Despite their significance to Indonesian history, syndicates are universally marginalized due to associations with violence, the word jago literally means a rooster and refers to a type of strongman that exists as a part of the everyday life in urban and rural areas of Indonesia. The jago is a social and political actor in recent and more distant history of Indonesia. In Indonesian popular culture, the jago is often romanticized as a champion of the people whose acts of violence are motivated by a sense of justice, honour. The preman is the modern, diagonally opposite form of the jago, a vrijman was not a freed slave, but rather a non-contract overseer or a coolie day-laborer, thus still in the employ of the company, though not legally bound to it. In the traditional state of the Medang Kingdom, thuggery was very much part of rural Java, the jago in pre-colonial times gained their legitimacy through their physical strength and sense of justice. In contrast, preman are notorious for their bullying behavior, due to their image as thugs, the preman in rural Java were very much despised by the locals, while Jago were highly praised as heroes. When the Dutch first arrived, their colonization did little to disturb the position of the preman, however, in the 19th century, their role shifted with the advent of a bureaucratically organised government. These power-brokers were also referred to as premans who acted as agents between the elite and the peasantry. The preman hence became a part of the colonial power structure. Although the colonial administration was based in Batavia, they had control over the rural heartland of Java. It was through this need for control that the preman became part of the administration, subsequently, we see the preman getting involved in the fields of taxation corvée, conscription as well as enforcing order. Hence, it can be said that the underworld enjoyed an almost symbiotic relationship with the forces of law, in a society that is based almost entirely upon trade, labour bosses as well as preman enforcers were important to the economic life of the city. The preman, as intermediaries, were important in filling in the gap between cultural ideals and the political realities of the governing society. The different ideals and realities of the peasants life demanded an active leadership, though a misleading one. Despite their incorporation in the administration, this incorporation was not without disruption

9.
Israeli mafia
–
The Israeli mafia is the general term for organized crime groups operating in Israel and also internationally. Allegedly there are 16 crime families operating in Israel, five major groups active on the national level, there are reputed to be six Maghrebi Jewish crime families active and three Arab crime families. Many heads and members of the groups have either been killed or are in prison. The major crime groups are the Abergils, the Abutbuls, the Alperons, the Dumranis, the Shirazis and it also cost the lives of innocent bystanders. The Iakhbal is the Israeli Special Police Unit that fights organized crime, the immigration of Egyptian and Moroccan Jews to Israel and their settlement in the more impoverished neighborhoods led to the creation of crime families among Maghrebi Jews as well. This is evident in the fact that a number of Israeli organized criminals have fled to Morocco in recent years. Israeli crime families of Moroccan Jewish descent expanded their operations to Europe, Palestinian organized crime groups were formed in Israel. Several Palestinian villages are home to local families, the most famous of them being the Doghmush clan. Palestinian crime families are involved in extortion, drug and weapon trafficking, fraud as well as money laundering, Palestinian criminals are internationally active as well. An example was the gang around Moussa Aliyan in New York City whose main business was the importation of heroin. The Russian mafia in Israel began with the immigration of Russian Jews to Israel in 1989. The Russian mafia saw Israel as a place to launder money, as Israels banking system was designed to encourage aliyah, the immigration of Jews. Following the trend of financial deregulation, Israel had also implemented legislation aimed at easing the movement of capital. Combined with the lack of anti-money laundering legislation, Russian organised crime found it a place to transfer ill-gotten gains. In 2005, police estimated that Russian organised crime had laundered between $5 and 10 billion in the fifteen years since the end of the Soviet Union, non-Jewish criminals such as Sergei Mikhailov sought to get Israeli passports, using fake Jewish documentation. Many of these Russian gangsters have Israeli passports as well, infamous Russian-Jewish mobsters include Marat Balagula, Evsei Agron and their respective criminal gangs in the United States. Soviet-Jewish criminal groups in the United States are involved in racketeering, prostitution, drug trafficking, extortion, family-based organized crime groups were formed among Georgian Jewish immigrants to Israel as well. Georgian-Jewish crime families have been able to expand their operations to Western European cities such as Antwerp and they are involved in counterfeiting, fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, prostitution and armed robbery

10.
Organized crime
–
Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, are politically motivated. Sometimes criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts money from shopkeepers for so-called protection, gangs may become disciplined enough to be considered organized. A criminal organization or gang can also be referred to as a mafia, mob, or crime syndicate, European sociologists define the mafia as a type of organized crime group that specializes in the supply of extra-legal protection and quasi law enforcement. There is a tendency to distinguish organized crime from other forms of crime, such as crime, financial crimes, political crimes, war crime, state crimes. This distinction is not always apparent and academics continue to debate the matter, for example, in failed states that can no longer perform basic functions such as education, security, or governance, organised crime, governance and war sometimes complement each other. The term Oligarchy has been used to describe democratic countries whose political, social and economic institutions come under the control of a few families, in the United States, the Organized Crime Control Act defines organized crime as he unlawful activities of a highly organized, disciplined association. Criminal activity as a process is referred to as racketeering. In the UK, police estimate that organized crime involves up to 38,000 people operating in 6,000 various groups, bureaucratic/corporate organized crime groups are defined by the general rigidity of their internal structures. An estimate on youth street gangs nationwide provided by Hannigan, et al. marked an increase of 35% between 2002 and 2010, the term “street gang” is commonly used interchangeably with “youth gang, ” referring to neighborhood or street-based youth groups that meet “gang” criteria. Some reasons youth join gangs include to feel accepted, attain status, a sense of unity brings together many of the youth gangs that lack the family aspect at home. Zones of transition are deteriorating neighborhoods with shifting populations, in such areas, conflict between groups, fighting, turf wars, and theft promote solidarity and cohesion. Participation in gang-related events during adolescence perpetuate a pattern of maltreatment on their own children years later, klein like Spergel studied the effects on members of social workers’ interventions. More interventions actually lead to greater participation and solidarity and bonds between members. Downes and Rock on Parker’s analysis, strain theory applies, labeling theory, control theory and these may also be defined by age or peer group influences, and the permanence or consistency of their criminal activity. These groups also form their own identity or public representation which are recognizable by the community at large. Some studied street gangs involved in drug dealing - finding that their structure, members saw themselves as organized criminals, gangs were formal-rational organizations, Strong organizational structures, well defined roles and rules that guided members’ behavior. Also a specified and regular means of income, padilla agreed with the two above. However some have found these to be rather than well-defined and lacking persistent focus, there was relatively low cohesion, few shared goals